It’s month two of the new year.
As your resident comic-nerd, I’m providing a list of things we can look forward to in 2012.
In no particular order…
1) The Sophomore Story Arcs in the DCnU.
DC Comics’ giant risk with the complete relaunch/reboot of all their book has proven to be a massive success. DC captured all 10 slots for the top selling comic books of January… that means Aquaman has sold more books in January than any of Marvel’s titles.
Did you ever think you’d live to see the day? Short answer: no.
DC has wrapped on 5 issues of all their titles, and with that, most of the first story arcs of said titles. Now I’m curious as to what comes next. While most of the books are going gang busters, some promising titles have crumbled to pieces (I’m looking at you, Savage Hawkman). DC is cutting the fat on the books not selling (OMAC, Blackhawks, Men at War, Hawk & Dove) and shaking up the creative teams on the books that are “on the bubble.”
Here’s what I can’t wait for: Justice League to catch up to the present. The origin story is great, but I want to see all the new members I was shown back before the books relaunched (Atom, Mera, Deadman, etc.). Earth 2 and World’s Finest, which will focus on Earth 2 characters like the Justice Society, Huntress and Powergirl. Awesome.
2) The Defenders
As a fan of the old-school Defenders, I’m hoping that the creative team of Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson can pull off what Marvel has been trying to recreate since the mid 80’s. What I’ve read so far is fun and the art is clean and beautiful. All that’s missing is Hellcat. I’m just saying.
3) Avengers vs. X-Men
Apparently this upcoming kerfuffle revolves around the Scarlet Witch (a personal favorite), formerly of the Avengers, and Hope Summers (meh) of the X-Men. Mix in a little Phoenix Force and voila, fist-in-face time. As a fan of both teams, I’m ready for some choice match-ups. It’s reminding me of the “Contest of Champions” miniseries from 1982 (don’t judge) that thrilled me as a young reader.
4) Before Watchmen
DC has recently announced that it will be producing a collection of Watchmen prequels this summer. 7 miniseries (Rorschach, Minutemen, Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Niteowl, Ozymandias & Silk Spectre) will focus on the exploits of the different characters before the events in Watchmen.
This announcement has been met with no small amount of controversy from the creators (Alan Moore in particular, who seems to be having a whole grumpy-old-man-get-off-my-property attitude) as well as some fans who consider Watchmen to be untouchable. As for me, I say, “gimme.” DC is putting some of their top talent (Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cook, J. Michael Stracynski, Amanda Conner) on the project and are taking this very seriously, and it’s a great way to keep people talking about DC as a publisher and about the comic book industry. I don’t think they’d risk the momentum they’ve got going just to release some garbage. It’s gonna be good.
5) Avengers: the movie. ‘Nuff said.
SINGLE ISSUE STANDOUT
The best single issue I read this month is Secret Avengers #20. I’ll spare you any spoilers. Just do yourself a favor and check it out.
BEST PANEL OF THE MONTH
This is kind of a cheat; The original issue came out in 1978 but was collected and re-released on January 18th. This is how people talk in real life.
The next time you’re with a group of friends and somebody says something you agree with, be sure to use everyone’s full name, including your own (in the third person) when you respond.
For example:
“Wow, the Madonna half-time show was really awesome.”
“David echoes the thoughts of Arnie.”
No comments:
Post a Comment